


Life is Hard (One Shots)

by x_Aura_x



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Family, Family Fluff, Feel-good, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-06-24 01:22:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15619326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/x_Aura_x/pseuds/x_Aura_x
Summary: Various tales about the family life of the triplets and the adventures they have just going through life. Even kids with a family as extraordinary as theirs have to go through all the things that regular kids must. This will be lot's of hurt/comfort and fluffy feel good stories about everyone's favorite ducks. (Contains gay characters, just a heads up.)





	1. A Promise Meant to be Broken

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: First time I've written anything here. I've been kind of inspired to start writing again with this reboot of Ducktales. It's just been so awesome so far and I'm glad there's a show that can re-ignite my passion to write. Hopefully you guys enjoy this feel good story about our favorite ducks while we all wait for that dang finale. I'll be adding more stories here as I feel like writing them. All comments are appreciated, constructive criticism and all that. I've enabled comment moderation only to filter out unnecessarily rude comments and not to censor legitimate criticism.

**Summary: When Huey finds out a troubling secret that Louie is keeping but promises not to tell anyone, he'll need to decide what's more important. His honor as a woodchuck, or protecting his family no matter the cost. Louie tries to come to terms with something about himself that he feels is wrong.**

* * *

 

Louie stared blankly at the wood of the bunk bed above him as his two brothers jumped down from the top beds. Uncle Donald always told them not to do that, but they couldn’t be bothered to use the ladder most of the time.

“Boys time to get ready for school!” The three of them heard their uncle yell from downstairs. He was not a patient duck and it would not be wise to keep him waiting.

Huey and Dewey threw on some clothes and scrambled out of their bedroom, the older triplet stopping half way out the door and looking back in. “You coming?” He asked their youngest brother.

Louie snapped out of his daze and looked at his brother, nodding. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be down in a second.”

“Oh… Okay just be quick, we’re already running late.” The older triplet quickly disappeared into the hall.

Louie sighed at the thought of having to go to school today, so far this school year sucked, and the thought of retreating under his covers and staying there was sounding pretty good. The last thing he wanted, though, was for his brothers to figure out something was wrong. Louie hated when they worried about him like he was some little kid that couldn’t take care of himself. He reluctantly rolled himself out of bed and changed out of his pajamas.

Down in the kitchen his two brothers were already enjoying some cereal as he took a seat at the table.

“Finally, hurry up and eat so we can get going!” Dewey said. The middle brother was fidgeting in his seat like it was burning him or something.

Louie raised an eyebrow. “And why, may I ask, are you so excited for school?” Dewey usually hated school, their middle brother was never very good at focusing on anything for very long and tended to get poor grades, much to their Uncle’s dismay.

“It’s music class day.” Dewey answered, wearing a wide smile across his face. “I don’t wanna miss it.” He definitely hated school, but the one good thing about it was when they had their one day a week music period. At least that was something he was good at. “So hurry up already!” He shoved a bowl and a box of sugary cereal towards his younger brother.

Louie pushed the offering away. “Eh, I’m not really hungry.”

“What! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you have to eat.” Huey told his little brother. “According to the J.W.G…”

“I’m not hungry Huey, you’re not the boss of us, and you can’t make me eat.”  

The oldest triplet was getting a little worried now, turning down food was not something Louie was known for, unless of course hot dogs were in the mix. “You sure you’re feeling okay today?” Huey touched the back of his hand to his brother’s forehead for it to immediately get brushed aside by his little brother.

“I’m fine, I’m just not hungry today. Does everyone have to eat all the time now?” He didn’t mean to sound as angry about it as he probably did.

Huey decided to drop the subject, not wanting to start anything with his brother.

“Alright Louie’s not hungry so let’s go boys!” Dewey jumped up from his chair, grabbing his brother’s arms and yanking them towards the door.

“Ouch!” Louie clutched his arm waiting for the sharp pain to subside.

Dewey released his brother’s arm. “Oops sorry Louie, I didn’t pull that hard did I?”

Huey raised his eyebrow. He grabbed the youngest duck’s arm and rolled up his brother’s sleeve before Louie could stop him and noticed a big purple bruise. “What happened to you?”

The youngest triplet ripped his arm away from his brother’s grasp wincing in pain as he did. He covered up the bruise with his sleeve. “It’s no big deal, I just fell off my bike yesterday and it still hurts a little.”

“Did you even tell Uncle Donald so he could tend to it?” Huey asked.

“You kidding me, he’d never let me ride a bike again, you know how he gets. It’s just a bruise, nothing to worry about.” Louie insisted. His answer seemed to satisfy his older brother for the moment. But something still didn’t feel right to the elder triplet.

“Alright, if you say so, but I still think you should at least let me look at it after school okay? Uncle Donald doesn’t have to know but that doesn’t mean you can leave it untreated, it could get worse.”

“Thanks Huey.” The best part of being triplets was that they always had each other’s back. It was rare that any of them would rat out another to their uncle, even if they did threaten to sometimes when they were mad.  

“Sure” Huey said, still feeling like his brother wasn’t telling him everything.

* * *

 

The boys arrived at their school fairly quickly, and luckily on time. The three of them lined up behind the rest of their classmates who were waiting for their teacher to lead them inside. It was one of those childish protocols that was simply expected of them in elementary school. 

Across the way Louie spotted a group of three older kids in the grade above them and immediately stepped behind his brothers, casually trying to conceal himself.

“What’re you doing?” Huey asked, noticing the sudden behavior. The boy looked around quickly before leaning in towards his younger brother. “Are you hiding from someone?”

Man, why did Huey have to be so nosey all the time?

“Me hiding? Nope don’t think so.” Louie answered, looking anywhere but at his brother’s eyes.  

“You are hiding!” Huey pulled his brother aside and whispered into his ear. “You know you can talk to me about anything that’s bothering you right? I know you don’t like to open up much, but I’m worried about you.”

“Look Hue, I appreciate it but I’m totally fine okay? You don’t have to treat me like a baby all the time.”

“But you’re not okay though, what about that bruise on your arm? And don’t tell me it’s from your bike, you don’t even ride that thing unless you’re going somewhere with us, and we didn’t ride our bikes yesterday.” The older triplet gestured to Dewey. “I know you don’t do anything that’s exercise just for fun!”

Dang Louie hated how perceptive his older brother was sometimes. I mean he wasn’t wrong, who the heck wanted to exercise just for fun? “Gah, fine! But you can’t tell anyone okay? I don’t want anybody to know about this.”

“I won’t tell anyone.” Huey agreed.

“I mean it, not Uncle Donald, or Scrooge, or Dewey! Promise me?” Louie asked.

“I promise Louie, I won’t tell anyone.” Huey told his younger brother, putting a hand reassuringly onto his shoulder.

“You swear on your honor as a Junior Woodchuck?”

If there was one thing both of Huey’s brothers knew, it was that he would never break a scout’s promise. It was scary how dedicated he was to that troop sometimes.

“I swear on my honor as a Woodchuck Louie, can we get on with this please.” Huey asked. They only had a couple minutes before they would have to start class.

The younger triplet sighed. “Those guys have been bullying me. Just a little…!” He grabbed Huey’s arm as the older boy tried to book it towards the group of older kids. “Huey don’t!” The younger boy begged barely holding back his brother. Man Huey was strong when he was angry.

“I knew that bruise wasn’t from a bike accident, I’ll go teach them…”

“Teach them what Huey? Those guys are huge compared to us, you’d get clobbered!” The younger duck begged his brother to stay put. It took more than a little bit of convincing. Huey had their uncle’s temper, especially when it came to anyone hurting his family. But after a bit he was finally able to get Huey to calm himself.

“Why wouldn’t you just tell one of the grown-ups that they are hitting you?”

Louie shook his head frantically. “I don’t want anyone to know about this okay, it’s embarrassing, and you promised not to tell anyone so no one will know about this! Right?” Louie’s breathing was becoming shallow as he tried to hold in his tears.

He didn’t want his brother to see him cry over something as dumb as this but he couldn’t help feeling ashamed that he couldn’t stand up for himself. He was supposed to be the cool and calm one that could sweet talk his way out of anything, but that hadn’t worked on these older kids.

“Well what are you gonna do about this then? I mean how long has this been going on?”

Louie knew his brother wouldn’t like his answer. “Just like, two or three weeks.”

“Louie! You can’t just let them beat you up every day until they graduate. Why are these guys even picking on you?”

Louie really did not want to answer that question and immediately he tried to come up with a lie. Then the bell rang suddenly, startling the two boys as their teacher came out to take them all inside. Louie relaxed a little, the bell had saved him for now. What would his brother’s think of him if they knew his secret? What would Uncle Donald think?

* * *

 

The beginning of the day progressed pretty smoothly, but class wasn’t what Louie was worried about. He was safe in class, as far as he was concerned class was the best thing ever right now. But the bell rang signaling that lunchtime was finally here, and the duck’s heart dropped.

The kids all lined up and headed for the cafeteria, everyone was excited for recess. Huey and Dewey both devoured their food as quickly as possible, that way they could get more time outside. Dewey finished first and bolted out the door. Louie on the other hand was busy rolling one of his meatballs around his tray of spaghetti with his Spork.

Huey leaned in. “You didn’t eat your breakfast today, you really should eat something Lou.”

“I just don’t want to go outside today okay? And the teachers won’t let me if I don’t finish my lunch.”

“This is because of those stupid bullies isn’t it? Is your pride really worth going through all this, why don’t you just tell an adult and get them off your back? I don’t like seeing you hurt.”

Louie knew that his brother just wanted to help. But he couldn’t go to the adults about this.

“You wouldn’t understand Huey, just leave me alone.”

“Try me! When have I ever let you down before? You’re acting like you can’t trust me, but all I want to do is help you!”

Louie could see some tears starting to well up in his older brother’s eyes. He hated making Huey hurt like this, he knew that he could trust him one hundred percent. Huey was right, he’d never ever let him down before when it counted. But even knowing all of this, he still could not tell him why he was so adamant about keeping this a secret, he just couldn’t.

The two brother’s sat in silence, Huey starring at his younger brother awaiting an answer that would never come. Louie didn’t say a word, he just looked at the ground, unable to bear looking into those tear filled eyes any longer.

“We’re brothers, you and Dewey are my best friends, and we’re not supposed to keep secrets from each other.” Huey said.

Louie remained completely quiet, he wasn’t sure what more there was to say. He couldn’t tell them the reason, and that was that.

“Whatever, I’m sorry I even cared in the first place.” Huey stood up and turned his back. “If you really won’t trust me at all, then you can figure this out on your own! Come find me if you decide you don’t want to get pummeled for the rest of the school year.”

“Huey…” The younger duck finally called out, but his brother had already left the cafeteria. Great, now not only did he have those dumb bullies to deal with, but his big brother hated him too. What a fantastic day this is, Louie thought to himself.

Why couldn’t he just be like all the other kids at this school? Why did he have to be the weird freak that gets picked on by everyone? It wasn’t like he wanted to be the way he was, he didn’t ask for any of this.

Louie gazed out the window as he continued to play with his food. He saw his other brother, Dewy, playing with some of the other boys from class. He was trying to juggle some of the playballs from the bin outside. Dewey would always do crazy stuff like that, trying to get all the attention, even if he looked like an idiot doing it. Louie respected that in a way, how he could make a fool of himself and just laugh along with the rest of the kids. He loved how Dewy could just be Dewy.

“So why can’t I just be Louie?” Louie muttered to himself.

Truth was, he was the opposite. He cared what people thought of him, he cared a lot. He didn’t want to be seen as the weak one who gets picked on, or the baby brother who couldn’t take care of himself. And he definitely didn’t want to be seen as the weird one who didn’t like girls like the rest of the boys in his class. But that’s the way he was.

It was all his fault in the first place. If he hadn’t been drawing hearts around his crush’s name in his school book, those bullies never would have accidentally seen it. He just wanted to be normal, he wanted to fit in. Most of all he wanted he didn’t want his family to hate him for being different. But the older kids had convinced him that was the only outcome if they discovered his secret.  

“Hey boys look who it is!” The youngest duck was suddenly grabbed by his shoulder from behind and spun around in his seat by a much stronger kid.

No, this wasn’t supposed to happen, he thought they wouldn’t dare touch him with all these teachers and students around. He thought he was safe.

“Leave me alone Sam!” Louie tried to get out of the chair but Sam shoved him back down.

“Thought I wouldn’t find you hiding in here faggot?” The bully’s friends stood around the two of them, shielding the two of them from view. With the bustle of kids trying to get lunch it was possible no one would even realize what was going on.

Louie wasn’t sure what that word meant, he’d never heard that before. But the fact that it came out of Sam’s mouth meant it was probably really bad.

“Look guys he’s about to cry.” Sam moved his face inches from a terrified Louie. “I may not be able to hit you in here, but you won’t have the protection of the adults forever.”

“Go away!” Louie yelled. “I didn’t do anything to you Sam. Just leave me alone.”

“Of course you did. You had the nerve to have some sick crush on my little brother. That’s just plain wrong, and someone’s got to teach you a lesson. Might as well be me.”

Louie tried to take deep breaths and stay calm. Sam wouldn’t be able to physically hurt him with all of these people surrounding them. All he had to do was take the verbal thrashing until the class bell rang.

“You know, I bet your dad… oh my bad, your uncle, wouldn’t even love you anymore if he knew you were a disgusting freak. He’d probably want to get rid of you.” The bully continued.

“That’s not true, you don’t know anything about him!” Louie choked back his tears, but he wasn’t going to be able to hold out much longer. He really didn’t want to give Sam, the satisfaction of seeing him cry. Problem was, Louie had already been thinking of that outcome himself.

Louie knew Sam was just trying to push his buttons. Trying to get a reaction out of him. But he couldn’t help but fall right into the trap. Sam was saying everything that Louie had already been deeply fearing, and it was getting to him. He lay in bed every night thinking about his family abandoning him because he wasn’t normal.

“I bet your mom would have hated you too, if she were even alive!” The bully continued to goad.

That was it that was the last straw.

Louie wasn’t a yeller, he wasn’t an angry person. But in his whirlwind of negative emotions he became… so angry. “Shut the fuck up you fucking idiot!” He yelled loud enough that it could be heard through most of the cafeteria causing some of the teachers to turn. “Don’t ever talk about my mom!”

“Haha, now you’ve done it.” Sam gave him the evilest smirk he’d ever seen before hurrying off.

“Llewellyn Duck!” His teacher scolded him as he turned to see her making a fast approach. “I did not just hear you use that language!”

“B-but, S-Sam.” Louie pointed in the direction Sam had been, but the bully was already long gone.

“No buts young man, you will not use that language in this place of learning.” She told him as she took out a piece of pink paper. A discipline slip, and that meant he was gonna be in big trouble with his uncle later. The teacher scribbled some words onto it and then handed a copy to him. “I’m gonna have to call your uncle and tell him about this. You can see me after school tomorrow for detention.”

This had officially been the worst day.

* * *

 

The car ride home was a long one. The brother’s sat in the back seat completely quiet as Donald glared at Louie through the rear-view mirror. Dewey was shocked that is was Louie who was in trouble this time. Usually he was the one getting that death glare when he got a bad report card, but none of them had ever gotten in trouble for something like this before.

Huey knew those bullies were to blame for this. He didn’t want to break his promise, but he didn’t want his brother to be in trouble either. What would they think of him if he broke his perfect record of always keeping his word? But what kind of big brother would let Louie continue to get beat up every day? He didn’t know what to do.

Before they knew it Donald pulled into the mansion’s drive way and the boys got out of the car. Before Louie could run off Donald grabbed him by his hoodie.

“No you don’t, we’re going to your room to talk about your actions today and discuss your punishment. Huey, Dewy leave your brother and I alone for a little bit.”

“Yes Uncle Donald.” The two of them replied in unison before heading to the living room to watch some television. When Donald was out of sight Huey doubled back and followed the two of them to their room. The door was cracked open and Huey leaned in to listen.

Donald dragged Louie to his bed and they sat down. It was quiet for a long while, before his Uncle broke the silence.

“Why would you use that kind of language at school Louie, you know better. And saying that to another kid is just unacceptable.”

Louie sniffled, he was already worked up from the horrible things that Sam had said to him, and now his Uncle was mad at him, when he didn’t even start anything. He couldn’t form the words to defend himself.

“Why Louie?” Donald repeated.

“I-I don’t know.” Louie finally choked out. He still didn’t want his family to know about his bullies, or his crush. He’d rather just take the grounding he was probably gonna get. Uncle Donald didn’t have to punish them often, but he didn’t exactly have a high tolerance for them getting in trouble at school.

“You don’t know?” Donald asked, knowing full well that was a lie. He was dealing with Louie after all, and he knew his boys well. “You’re in big trouble Llewellyn, pink slips are a big deal they could get you suspended, and you don’t have anything to say for yourself?”

Louie remained silent.

“This isn’t how you usually act Louie, I thought I could expect better from you.” Donald sighed.

Huey decided he couldn’t sit by and let his little brother get punished over this. He was completely innocent in all this, he knew those bullies were probably the ones who pushed Louie’s buttons first. Something about deciding to break a promise hurt him inside, but watching his brother suffer was way worse. “Uncle Donald” Huey said, poking his head in through the door.

“I thought I said to give us a moment.”

“You promised not to tell, remember?” Louie hissed.

The older boy stepped into the room and closed the door. His little brother looked so mad right now, but he’d though a lot about this since they fought in the cafeteria earlier.

“I know I promised, but I didn’t know exactly what I was promising when I said that, I have to tell him. I’m sorry. I’m not gonna let you get in trouble for something you didn’t do.”

“Something you didn’t do?” Donald glanced at his nephew who lifted up his hood and pulled the strings to hide his face completely, preparing for the worst as his brother spilled all the beans.

“Louie’s been getting bullied at school, by some of the older kids. He won’t say why, but I’m sure they were picking on him at school before he said those, you know, bad words. Plus they’ve been beating him up for weeks. It wasn’t his fault Uncle Donald, you can’t punish him.”

Donald’s expression softened a bit. “Louie, is this the truth.”

The young duck just gave a weak nod, rolling up his sleeve to reveal the bruise on his arm.

His Uncle gasped. “I need to talk with your brother Huey, thank you for telling me the truth.” Uncle Donald gave his nephew a hug. “You did the right thing. You should never keep a promise if it means you’re letting someone get hurt. I’m proud of you.”

Huey smiled, he was glad that his Uncle felt he made the right choice.

“Wait downstairs okay?” Huey nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Donald reached out and pulled Louie’s hoodie back open so he could see his face. To his surprise, his nephew had streaks of tears painted on his cheeks. He used his sleeve to wipe some of the tears away as Louie continued to let them flow. He wondered why his nephew wouldn’t tell him all this in the first place, he was sure that Louie must have known that he’d never get punished if he had just told him about these bullies.

Donald quickly examined the damage to his arm, luckily it didn’t seem serious. He couldn’t believe that one of his kids had been suffering for weeks and he didn’t even know about it. He felt terrible, but right now Louie was bawling his eyes out, he couldn’t worry about that.

“Louie, sweetie, come here.” Donald said, pulling his nephew onto his lap, wrapping him in a tight hug. “Everything’s going to be fine Lou, you’re not in trouble okay? You’re not in trouble.” His uncle assured softly, as he rubbed the boy’s back comfortingly. Louie smooshed his face into the fabric of his Uncle’s shirt as he soaked it with his tears.

Donald couldn’t help but chuckle at the situation they were in, it had been a while since he had to hold one of his boys like this.  Louie looked up, his nose running. “What’s so funny?” He choked out between sobs, still holding his Uncle tightly.

“Oh Lou, I’m not laughing at you I promise. This just reminds me of a lot of other times you boys needed me when you were a little bit younger. You kids have always been so sweet and kind and sensitive, I love that about you. But you were always my little crier, you used to cry a lot you know? I would hold you just like this and I’d always calm you down. Even if you try not to show it much anymore, you’re still that sensitive Louie I’ve always loved.”

Louie listened to his Uncle say all these nice things to him, his voice soothing him. He wasn’t wrong after all, most people wouldn’t know it by looking at him, because he tried hard to hide it, but Louie was usually the first one to break down in tears at something that was bothering him. It’s just how he always was.

Donald continued to squeeze his boy, he wouldn’t let go until Louie was all better. Just five minutes ago he’d been so angry at him for breaking the rules at school, and now he just wanted him to feel safe and loved. There was no anger to be had anymore.

After a while Louie’s sobs turned into soft whimpering. Even though he hadn’t stopped crying completely, Donald felt as though he might be able to explain what was going on now.

Still allowing Louie to sit upon his lap, he lifted his boy’s chin off his shoulder and looked into his red puffy eyes. “Tell me everything Louie, I need to know what’s going on so I can sort all this out. Why wouldn’t you tell me that someone was picking on you, why take the fall for something you didn’t do, that’s not like you?”

Louie sniffled. He was really nervous about where this conversation was going. “I-I didn’t want you or Huey or Dewey or anyone to find out about Sam bullying me, cause he said you wouldn’t l-love me anymore if you knew.”

“Why would you think I wouldn’t love you for getting bullied?” Donald asked, very confused.

“No, not cause of that. Cause of the reason he was picking on me.”

“Oh, okay.” Donald said. He wanted to take things slowly and let Louie explain.

“Would you ever get rid of me Uncle Donald? I don’t want you to leave me.”

Where was all this coming from all of the sudden? Donald was starting to realize that this bully must have said some pretty bad things to his nephew to make him think this way.

Donald ran his hand through the boy’s hair. “Lou, no matter what anyone might have told you, there is nothing in this entire world that would ever make me leave you. Do you understand me?”

Louie nodded.

“Good, I’ll always love you, and your brothers. You boys are the only thing in my life that matters to me. I promised your mom I’d always take care of you before she passed, and that’s a promise I would never break. So please tell me why these boys were picking on you. I promise I’m still gonna love you no matter the reason.”

“Sam said people would think I was a freak if they found out.” Louie said, looking at the ground.

“What did he find out that you don’t want anyone to know?” Donald asked.

“I have a crush, o-on a boy in our class, Sam’s little brother who’s in the same grade as us.” Louie turned away and squeezed his eyes shut, anticipating his Uncle’s reaction.

Donald needed a moment to process what had been said, and the resulting silence only made the young duck more uncomfortable. Louie was gay? He’d never even thought about what he’d do if something like that came up with any of his boys. He supposed he should have talked with them about this kind of stuff sooner, Louie was obviously confused about the whole thing if he thought everyone was going to hate him for this.

Louie was pulled into another brief hug by his Uncle. “Is that all? That’s great Lou, what’s his name?” His uncle smiled at him. Well that wasn’t the reaction he was expecting at all that’s for sure.

“You’re not upset with me for liking a boy? But that’s wrong right?”

Donald shook his head. “There’s nothing wrong with you kiddo, I know that bully Sam probably told you some bad stuff, but he’s just some random bully, what he says doesn’t matter. You should have just come to me if you were curious about this stuff. It’s called being gay, and there are lots of other people like that, it’s a perfectly normal thing.” His uncle explained.

“Sam said no one would love me anymore if they knew. I thought you’d be mad. He called me a Faggot too, what does that even mean?” Louie asked.

Donald’s eyes widened. The fact that anyone would say something like that to his kids made his blood boil. “It’s a very bad word Lou, and you’re probably going to hear that a lot from some bad people in your life. But never let them get to you, understand? You’re perfectly normal, and there’s nothing to be ashamed of, just be the way you are.”

Louie had never heard of any of this. He’d only ever heard boys talking about liking girls. There was supposed to be a Mom and a Dad right? Or maybe not? So he wasn’t weird then?

“You didn’t tell me his name.”

Louie blushed a little bit. “Oliver” He said quietly, his head still spinning from everything that had happened today. “His name is Oliver.”

“Your first crush, you boys are growing up too fast.” Uncle Donald mused as he ruffled his nephew’s hair.

“Uncle Donald.” Louie whined. His Uncle was great at making every situation embarrassing. Louie kind of liked that though, it was just like his friend’s parents treated them. It made their family feel normal.

“Promise me you’ll come to me next time anything is bothering you okay?” Donald said. There’s nothing you’ll ever do that will stop me loving you.”

“I promise. You know, you’re the best dad we could ever ask for.” Louie told him. None of the boys had ever called him that before, but they did always talk about what it would be like to be call him that when they were alone, they just weren’t sure if he wanted them to.

“You called me dad?” Uncle Donald asked, a little stunned.

“Y-yeah, is that cool? I just thought I’d try it, I kinda like the sound of it.” Louie explained.

Donald smiled, he leaned over and kissed Louie on his forehead. “Sure, you boys can call me dad whenever you want. I wanted it to be your decision if you did.”

Louie climbed off his Uncle’s lap. The two of them sat there for a long while. Louie told Donald all about his crush and his Uncle gave him lots of tips on love and how to impress someone you liked.

“You know Lou, your mom would be so proud of you for being yourself, you know that?” Donald had the sweetest smile on his face, he didn’t talk about her much with the boys. The pain was too hard to deal with, and he didn’t want to share that with his kids. This just seemed like something he should know.

Louie was a little surprised his Uncle mentioned her. “You never talk about mom.” The young duck stared at him with eyes full of curiosity. “What was she like?”

Donald knew there would be a day when his boys would want to know everything about her. Maybe ten years was long enough to grieve. Maybe it was time to move on and share some of her memory with the boys she brought into this world.

“She was the most wonderful person on this planet. You should have seen how excited she was to be a mom while you boys were still in your egg. I wish she could have met you. I wish that every single day.” Now it was Donald’s turn to wipe his own tears away.

“I wish we could have met her too.” Louie patted his Uncle on the back, pretending not to notice the shimmer in his eyes.

Donald looked over at his nephew who was smiling innocently. He’d always thought that showing any sign of the pain he’d been carrying with him all these years would be bad for the boys. But maybe they could have been helping him deal with it the whole time. They did lose her too after all, even if they never got to know her.

“I’ll take you and your brother’s to see her sometime, if you want that is. She’s buried in the cemetery up the road, I go there a lot to talk to her. And I can tell you lot’s more stories, she was an interesting character your mom.”

Louie nodded his approval. Uncle Donald had never showed that to them, maybe he thought it would make the whole thing more real for them. But they all already knew she was dead, they were old enough to understand that.

“I think you’d better go apologize to your brother though, first. It sounds like you caused him a great deal of trouble today, huh?” Donald lightly elbowed his nephew in the ribs trying to lighten the mood.

“Hey, he was the one who broke his stupid scout’s promise to me.” The younger duck pouted. He really never thought Huey would do that, it must have been hard for him though.

“But he was just trying to help his little brother. There are some promises that should be broken to protect someone you care about.”

Louie let out a long drawn out groan. “I hate it when you say something wise like that. Who are you and what have you done with Donald Duck?”

The two of them laughed together.

“You gonna tell your brother’s your secret?” Donald asked.

Louie nodded. “Trust me Huey wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t tell him soon. He hates secrets.” The young duck chuckled.

“Well let’s all go out to dinner tonight, and we can all talk. It’s been a while since we’ve eaten together as a family. I’ll call your teacher and explain everything too, maybe even get her to reverse that pink slip.” Donald offered.

Louie gave him one last big hug. He really did have the best family in the world. This turned out not to be the worst day ever after all.

“I love you Lou.”

“I love you too, dad.”


	2. Happy Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donald comes home feeling rather down, he has fears and doubts about how his status as a parent stacks up to his glorious Uncle. Hopefully a trip down memory lane will bring him some happiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next installment in my one shot series takes place a little after the events of the finale. I hope you guys enjoy this one, it touches on a little bit heavier of a topic. Losing loved ones, depression and the like. But of course as always there shall come comfort. Any and all reviews are always welcome, I love hearing from you wonderful readers, thank you to everyone who gave Kudos and who left kind words. I'm loving this community already and I've only been here a very short time. =)

            Donald shivered as he fumbled around in his pockets for the house key that Scrooge had entrusted him with. With his houseboat sunk under the dark waters of the bay he had no choice but to live inside the mansion at this point. At least there would be a fireplace inside, he thought to himself as he struggled to produce the key. It was oddly breezy tonight.

            He emptied the contents of his pockets onto the doorstep. Some change clinked against the stone, some rolling off into the night. Bits of garbage from his day that inevitably got stuffed into his pocket when no bins were to be found also fell out. He briefly thought that if Scrooge would pony up some money for a light out here, then he wouldn’t have to sift through a pile of nonsense by moonlight.

            Just as his fingers finally touched something that resembled his key the door to the mansion swung open. Donald looked up, on his hands and knees.

            “What’re ya doing down there making all that racket?” Scrooge said, looking down on him.

            Donald sighed. “I barely made a peep, how could you have heard me?”

            “Are you kidding, I can hear a penny drop from fifty yards.” Scrooge answered as Donald hastily scooped up the change that he had dropped prior.

            Scrooge’s nephew stood up and followed him inside and over to the cozy looking red sofa in the middle of the living area. The two of them sat down, and Scrooge offered him a cup of the tea he’d been enjoying to which Donald quickly, yet politely, refused. He knew that tea would taste more like hot water than anything.

            Donald never realized how eerie the mansion looked at night. He’d only ever come in to tuck tell the boys goodnight, never staying long enough to take a good look when the sun went down. The fireplace housed a dancing flame, the only source of light in the room, casting shadows which joined in its performance.

            “Working late again?” Scrooge asked him, a hint of judgment in his tone.

            “I just got done working a double shift. One of the other workers called in, and I couldn’t pass up the chance to get some extra cash.” He yawned, even by firelight Scrooge could tell that his nephew’s eyes were heavy and dark.

            The old duck looked him over, with those eyes full of pity that Donald didn’t care for at all. Donald had always been one to push himself to his limits trying to earn money so his boys could be happy. So they could have toys, and clothes and food. Now that they lived With Scrooge some of that pressure should have been taken off of him, but it still didn't feel that way. In fact, he’d been working even more than usual.

            Donald knew that his Uncle didn’t mean to make him feel so worthless compared to him, but that didn’t make it better. He knew his kids could get more from Scrooge than anything he could give them, but still, he worked himself to exhaustion every day trying to provide something for them. To show his kids that he could take care of them. It would be easier if people would stop it with that damn look all the time.

            “Donald, you know you and the boys are welcome to stay here as long as you want? You don’t have to push yourself so hard to earn extra money for them.”

            For Donald, It was nights like this that were the hardest. Why couldn’t his Uncle have just been asleep? He surely didn’t need this talk right now. He knew they would always be welcome here, heck he was even grateful for that. But he felt like less than nothing compared to his Uncle. Lately, he couldn’t help that feeling.

            Scrooge reached out and touched his shoulder. “It’s not just for you and the boys you know? It gets quite lonely in this empty mansion without the kids running around all day; I want you all to stay Donald. Just don’t tell anyone I said that, can’t have people thinking I’ve gone soft.” He added in a weak attempt at easing the tension.

            The attempt at humor did cause Donald to chuckle a little. It was rare for his Uncle to admit he cared about anything other than money.

            “You’ve given my boys more than they ever got from me the whole ten years that I’ve raised them. And don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that they have good food and a warm place to sleep. I’m just upset that I can’t be the one to give them all those things. They must think I’m such a failure” Donald put his head into his hands and rubbed his eyes. “Everyone gives me this look like they’re surprised that I even bother to keep going. That they’re sorry for me. What would Della…”

            “There isn’t anything for them to feel sorry about. Sure you may not have as much money as some, or most even, but the things that matter when you’re raising kids don’t have anything to do with the cost of your living arrangement or how fancy your clothes look. You’ve done a wonderful job with the things that count.”

            Donald sat and listened to his Uncle as he lectured him about not feeling depressed of all things.

            “What do you even know about raising kids?” Donald spat before taking in a deep breath. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so harsh.”

            “No, that’s exactly right! I don’t know all of the hardships that came with raising those boys. You might think you can’t provide as well as I can, but you’re wrong lad. You’ve already got a ten year head start on me in the providing department.”

            “Oh please, you get to take them on these grand adventures everyday, feed them food I’ve never been able to afford, give them a massive home to run around in,  and I don’t have a place in that part of their lives. They’ve probably already forgotten all those boring years living on the boat with me.”

           “Nonsense, you know those boys up there waited up an hour past their bedtime for you to come home tonight? They could barely keep their eyes open they were so tired, but you know why they wanted to wait?”

            Donald shook his head. “No, and why did you even let them stay up so late in the first place? You know bedtime is at nine.”

            “Come now Donald that’s really beside the point. The kids stayed up because you always come in there and kiss them goodnight before they sleep, which they no doubt pretend to hate when they’re around you, sure. But they missed that tonight, I could tell they were worried about where you were. You haven’t exactly been around much with your working; they just wanted to see you once today. All this extra work you’ve been doing is what’s letting them down, not your lack of money. And if you think they could ever forget anything you do you’re wrong. You’re the only dad they’ve got Donald.”

            A wave of guilt washed over Donald. He had been working a lot these last few weeks. He left today before the boys got up and got back after they were asleep. They hadn’t had a chance to see him all day. It was like that more often than he’d care to admit. Maybe all he needed to give them was a little more time. Perhaps that would help this feeling of failure he’d been stuck with lately.

            “Your boys love you, Donald, you’ve done a great job raising them. But forget this notion that you have to provide all the monetary support for them to respect you. They already love you for all of the other things you do for them I’m sure.”

            Their heads turned suddenly as they heard a loud creak come from the stairs nearby. Three young ducks looking very sleepy were crouched on them trying to conceal themselves behind the large railing and failing miserably.

            “Boys come on down; we know you’re listening.” Donald couldn’t help but smile as the very tired ducks waddled their way over to the sofa to join their uncles. The three brothers climbed onto the couch and cuddled up next to Donald, laying their heads on his shoulders and lap.

            “I thought you went to sleep ages ago,” Scrooge mentioned as the three of them shared a yawn.

            Huey rubbed his eyes. “We did for a little while, but then I wanted to get some water and woke up Dewey and Louie on accident, and then we heard you talking down here and got curious.”

            “Sorry dad, we heard you are talking about us, and your money and stuff,” Dewey said.

            Donald still couldn’t get used to them calling him that. Ever since Louie told his brothers that they were free to call him that whenever they wanted, they’d been saying it a lot. He liked it that they thought of him like that, but it was still weird to hear.

            Donald ran his hand through Dewey’s messy hair. “You don’t have to be sorry boys. I’m the one who should be sorry; you shouldn’t have to hear me talk about stuff like that. That’s adult stuff that you shouldn’t worry about okay?”

            “But we love you no matter how much money you make.” Louie wrapped his arm around his Uncle. The boys were always very clingy when they were tired.

            Dewey scooched a little closer to Donald. “Yeah, but we wish you weren’t working so much. We don’t ever get to see you anymore. We’d rather spend time with you, even if it means we don’t get as many toys and stuff.”

            “We’re worried about you,” Huey brought up.

            Donald was now feeling terrible. It was true; he had been neglecting them lately in favor of working longer and longer hours. It couldn’t be helped if he felt like he was letting them down either way. It’s just the way he felt. What made it worse was that they had to see him in such a state.

            “You know boys; everyone has times in life where they feel a little sad. Sometimes we know why, and other times it just takes us over for no reason. And no matter what you do it doesn’t want to go away.”

            Scrooge cleared his throat on the other side of the couch “Eh, Donald? Is this an appropriate conversion to have?” His eyes darted towards his grand-nephews then back at Donald.

            “They have as much right to know about how I’ve been feeling as anyone.”

            The kids looked up at Donald, all of them seemed a little confused. It was strange hearing their Uncle, who was usually so happy around people talk like this.

            “Boys when I found out your mom disappeared I swore I’d always take care of you in her place. But I feel like I’ve been letting her down lately. I don’t make enough money to take care of you the way you deserve…”

            “What are you talking about?” Huey interrupted him. “Shouldn’t we get to be the judges of whether or not you’re taking care of us well?”

            “Yeah, we love having you as our dad,” Dewey added. “Even if you can be boring sometimes.”

            Donald chuckled at that. He supposed that he could be rather boring, especially compared to their mutually much richer Uncle.

            “Yup and you always made sure we had clothes and food. But you also worked your butt off to give us toys, and to take us out places.” Louie joined in trying to cheer up their uncle. “You’re one of the hardest working ducks I know.”

            “And you were always there when we needed you too. You think we forgot that stuff but we remember some things. Like what about when we were five? Dewey was starting to have all those nightmares, and you got him that stuffed animal to make him feel better. He still sleeps with that thing.” Huey giggled.

            Dewey blushed a little. He did still sleep with that stuffed dog hidden under his pillow; he didn’t realize that his brother’s knew about that. It didn’t matter anyway, the toy still made him feel close to his Uncle.

* * *

 

            Donald thought back to that time, it felt like such a long time ago. The boys had been about to start school that year, and the separation anxiety had been affecting Dewey and Louie way more than their older brother. They didn’t want to be away from him for a whole school day; they wanted to stay with him. Maybe it was his fault that they had been so dependent on him, perhaps he had been too overprotective?

            The nights following that one had been hard. Louie was handling the notion of attending school a little better after Donald had assured him that he’d have his brothers there to keep him company. Dewey, on the other hand, would not stop having these horrible nightmares about being abandoned. He had tried to assure his nephew that of course he’d never do something like that, and that he’d always be there. The dreams persisted.

            Sleepless nights had become normal in the following weeks. Donald had allowed Dewey to sleep in his bed, which had helped a little. But it wasn’t until he’d thought to try buying him a little friend, something to comfort him when he felt alone, that he managed to stop the nightmares.

            “Dewey, this is Spot.” He had said, extending a small stuffed dog. It was a simple, cheap-looking brown dog with white spots and floppy ears, but to Dewey it would become his best friend. “He’s my special friend, and he’ll keep you company whenever we have to be apart.”

            Dewey reached out his little hand as Donald gently gave his nephew the toy.

            “When you have him with you, you’ll have me with you too, that way you’ll never have to feel lonely. He’s a little bit magic that way.” Donald smiled as his little boy stared in wonder at the gift.

            Things like that, they weren’t in any of the books that he had read. For most of their lives so far he felt like he’d been winging pretty much everything as he went. It's not like he was expecting to have to raise three boys after all. Even so, he was proud of the young men he’d raised; they could have turned out awful with the life his kids had to go through, instead, they turned out to be good boys, mischievous boys, sure, but at least they were kind. That was more important to him than anything.

            Dewey had squeezed that little puppy toy so hard when Donald gave it to him. He was glad that he loved it so much, and kind of proud that he was able to come up with the idea, as simple as it seemed.

            Once Dewey had Spot to sleep with the nightmares seemed to stop, and as far as he knew they never came back. He couldn't beleive that his boys remembered that time.

* * *

 

            Donald snapped back to reality as he saw his boys staring up at him, probably wondering why he hadn’t answered the question Huey had posed a moment ago.

            “Of course I remember that day, I couldn’t sleep for weeks because Dewey kept waking me up every night. That’s hard to forget.” Donald laughed.

            The boys were too sleepy to let out more than a soft chuckle. Louie glanced up at his Uncle and smiled.

            “Yeah and you accepted me for who I am, not every parent would do that. I was so scared to tell you that I had a crush on that boy in class, but you made me feel like it was a totally normal thing,” Louie explained. “You didn’t need money for that, either.”

            Dewey chimed in wanting to include himself in the conversation. “Hey, what about that time when Huey was getting picked on for being a huge nerd and almost wanted to quit school,”

            Huey glared at his brother. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

            “I can call you a nerd ‘cause I’m your brother; it’s only mean if other people do it,” Dewey said, trying to explain how sibling privileges work. “Besides, you know I love ya that way.”

            Donald had already tuned out his kid's bickering, a skill that had been well developed over the years, thinking back to the incident they were referring to. That had been another case he hadn’t thought to prepare for.

* * *

 

            That day had started out perfectly normal as he recalled. Donald sent the boys on their way to school; they had just begun their 3rd-grade classes about a month ago, and Huey was loving all the new topics they were learning. It pleased Donald to know that he wouldn’t have to convince at least one of his boys to go to school every morning.

            Huey was always explaining to him how to do different math problems and the newer, bigger, words they were learning. Honestly it was stuff that Donald himself had forgotten a long time ago having been out of school for so long, but he loved seeing that his boy was excited about it all.

            What he hadn’t thought about was the fact that the kids would get more ruthless the older they got, and they had started making fun of Huey for being so smart.

            Donald remembered squeezing his oldest child in a tight hug as he bawled his eyes out. He had picked them up from class, and according to Huey’s brothers, the other kids had been teasing him because he liked learning so much. Dewey and Louie had stood up for their brother, and that made him the proudest of all, but that didn’t change the fact that he had a crying eight-year-old clinging to him. Just great.

            When the four of them got home, he pulled Huey to the side to talk with him. It took a while for him to finally stop crying long enough to get any words in.

            Donald moved Huey so that he was standing in front of him. His eyes were puffy and red, he sniffled as Donald held him there.

            “Huey, honey, what happened.” Donald had asked him with the soothing voice he used to calm his angry or crying kids. He waited very patiently for Huey to get his words out.

            “I never w-want to go back to s-school, ever again!” Huey hiccuped. “They called me a nerd; they said I’d n-never get any friends ‘cause everyone h-hates smart kids who know lots of stuff.”

            Donald rubbed Huey’s back comfortingly. “Huey, you love school and learning. Don’t let some bullies stop you from doing the things you like.” He picked up the small duck and placed him onto the couch next to him. “Kids get jealous of people who are smarter than them, so they call them bad names and make fun of them.” Donald explained, looking right into his nephew’s eyes. “You are going to be a great scientist, or engineer, or anything that you want because you’re such a smart kid.”

            “Really?” Huey sniffled.

            Donald smiled at his boy. “Absolutely kiddo, people are going to call you a nerd, but be proud of it, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Wear that title like a badge of honor. One day you’re gonna be the boss of all those bullies, and you’ll be doing amazing things with all the knowledge you’ll have.”

            Huey nodded, accepting his uncles words of wisdom.

            “So do you think we can try going back to school tomorrow.” Donald asked. His 8-year-old nodded and gave him a big hug. “That’s my boy.”

* * *

 

            “You were lost in thought again.” He heard Scrooge quietly tell him, as he drifted back into reality once more.

            Donald glanced down at his boys. All of them were fast asleep in his lap just like when they were little. For a moment he felt a short pain in his heart. He wished Della could have seen the wonderful children she gave birth to. That she could see how thoughtful and kind they had turned out to be, going so far as to try to comfort him when his deression had overtaken him.

            He couldn’t believe that his boys actually did remember some of those things. Maybe he had some impact in their lives after all. He was lucky to have them.

            They’re just like you sis, he thought to himself as they snored softly. They really do make everything around them so much better. Heck, they managed to bring Scrooge and I back together after all these years. All I want is for them to be happy, maybe money isn’t the answer? I need to be here for them, like I used to be before we started living here, and they can be here for me too.

            I wonder if you’re still out there Della. Sometimes I hope that you found a way to survive up there for all these years. I know that’s a silly dream, but what I wouldn’t give to have it be true. For you to see your boys for the first time. All I know is that until then, even if that’s forever, I will take care of these kids. I can’t give them money, but I’ll give them enough love for you and I both. That’s my new promise to you.

            Donald stretched out his arms. “Well I’m gonna get these sleepy heads back into bed, mind carrying one?” Donald asked his Uncle. “They’re not as light as they used to be, two is pretty much my limit.”

            Scrooge nodded. “Sounds good, then you should get some well earned sleep too. And don’t you worry about money anymore alright? I may be cheap but I do care about you and the boys, I’m happy to get you anything you need. And that doesn’t make you any less of a parent to them. I hope they were able to show you that”

            Donald nodded and smiled at that. Scrooge lifted Huey gently off of the sofa, careful not to wake him. Donald took Dewey and Louie in each arm holding them close to his chest as they worked there way to the boys bedroom.

            The elder ducks placed each one in thier beds before Scrooge headed for his own room. Donald stayed behind a moment, watching his boys sleep. They looked so at peace, he was glad that they could still sleep soundly after everything they’d learned this month about their mother. He leaned over each one and kissed them each on their foreheads before turning towards the door.

            “Goodnight my sons.”

            He knew he would never shake of the lingering sadness of everything that he’d lost ten years ago. How could he? And maybe he wouldn’t ever be able to give them everything in the world. But these boys of his were still here with him,  and they were enough. They had to be enough. And he’d give them all the love in the world instead.


End file.
